Tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 4 is a dynamic tight junction-related shuttle protein involved in epithelium homeostasis.
BACKGROUND
Despite numerous in vivo evidences that Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor-Associated Factor 4 (TRAF4) plays a key biological function, how it works at the cellular and molecular level remains elusive.


RESULTS
In the present study, we show using immunofluorescence and immuohistochemistry that TRAF4 is a novel player at the tight junctions (TJs). TRAF4 is connected to assembled TJs in confluent epithelial cells, but accumulates in the cytoplasm and/or nucleus when TJs are open in isolated cells or EGTA-treated confluent cells. In vivo, TRAF4 is consistently found at TJs in normal human mammary epithelia as well as in well-differentiated in situ carcinomas. In contrast, TRAF4 is never localized at the plasma membrane of poorly-differentiated invasive carcinomas devoid of correct TJs, but is observed in the cytoplasm and/or nucleus of the cancer cells. Moreover, TRAF4 TJ subcellular localization is remarkably dynamic. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) experiments show that TRAF4 is highly mobile and shuttles between TJs and the cytoplasm. Finally, we show that intracellular TRAF4 potentiates ERK1/2 phosphorylation in proliferating HeLa cells, an epithelial cell line known to be devoid of TJs.


CONCLUSIONS
Collectively, our data strongly support the new concept of TJs as a dynamic structure. Moreover, our results implicate TRAF4 in one of the emerging TJ-dependent signaling pathways that responds to cell polarity by regulating the cell proliferation/differentiation balance, and subsequently epithelium homeostasis. Drastic phenotypes or lethality in TRAF4-deficient mice and drosophila strongly argue in favor of such a function.
Kédinger
Valérie
V
Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), Department of Cancer Biology, CNRS UMR 7104, INSERM U596, Université Louis Pasteur, Illkirch, France.
Alpy
Fabien
F
Baguet
Aurélie
A
Polette
Myriam
M
Stoll
Isabelle
I
Chenard
Marie-Pierre
MP
Tomasetto
Catherine
C
Rio
Marie-Christine
MC
D000818:Animals; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000502:physiology; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D002461:Cell Line, Transformed; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D016764:Cell Polarity / Q000502:physiology; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004285:Dogs; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D042361:Mammary Glands, Human / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological; D021381:Protein Transport / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D053449:TNF Receptor-Associated Factor 4 / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D019108:Tight Junctions / Q000378:metabolism*
D053449:TNF Receptor-Associated Factor 4; D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3